The Topographical Setting of China

– The three-tier (three-step) pattern

🠶China has a large land mass and a wide

variety of landforms – mountain ranges,
plateaus, basins, hilly areas and plains
🠶The topography of China is high in the west
and low in the east, showing a general trend of
three steps down (Figure 1). This is the
so-called "three-tier (three-step) pattern of
relief“.
 Figure 1 A map showing the three-tier pattern of relief
& major rivers of China (& related information)
River Length Annual
of the runoff
river (Source
(Source of
of data：
data： 《China
《China Statistic
Statistica al
l Yearboo
Yearboo k
k 2019》)
2019》)
Huang
Hua
He
5,464 59.2 billion
ng km cubic
He meters
Cha 6,300 985.7

Chang
Jiang
Key
1st tier/step
2nd tier/step
3rd tier/step
As seen from Figure 1 above, China's three- tier
pattern of relief is high in the west and low in the
east. The characteristics and examples of the tiers
are as follows:

China’s Characteristics &

three-tier Examples
pattern of
relief
1st tier/step • The 1st tier includes high mountains
such as the Tibetan Plateau with an
average altitude of over 4,000m
in southwestern China.
 China’s Characteristics &
three- Examples
tier
pattern
of relief
2nd tier/step • The height of the 2nd tier is about 1,000-2,000m
above sea level, and some areas can be below
500m.
• This region spanning central, northern and
northwestern China has a series of highland above
1,500m above sea level, such as Altai Shan,
Tianshan, Inner Mongolia Plateau, Loess Plateau,
Yungui Plateau, Zunggar Basin, Tarim Basin,
Qaidam Basin and Sichuan Basin.
 China’s Characteristics &
three- Examples
tier
pattern
of relief
3rd tier/step • Crossing Daxinganling (Greater Khingan
Range) to Xuefeng Shan, all the way to the
coast of eastern China, it is the 3rd tier of
China’s topography. There are plains and
hills below 500m in altitude.
• Examples of the 3rd tier include the Northeast
China Plain, North China Plain, the middle
and lower courses of Chang Jiang Plain, and
the southeast hills (southeast hilly areas),
etc.
 🠶 Taking Chang Jiang in Figure 1 as an example to draw a
profile, we can see that the flow direction of China's
major rivers (such as Chang Jiang and Huang He) also
roughly reflects the topography of China's high west and
low east (see Figure 2 below)

Figure 2 A profile of Chang Jiang

Altitude (m) Middle course Lower course
Upper course
Tanggula Mountains

Tiger Leaping Gorge

Chongqing Yichang Wuhan

West
West East
(km)
 Characteristics of China’s topography-
more mountains and less flat lands
🠶 Mountainous topography is a major relief
characteristic of China. In terms of height, the
lowlands below 500m only account for 25% of the
country ’s total land area, while the highlands
above 500m account for about three-quarters.
🠶 Uplands (including mountain ranges, plateaus and
hills) account for about 69% of the total land area
in China.
🠶 On the contrary, China's flat lands / lowlands
(including basins and plains with flat terrain) only
accounts for about 31% of the total area
 Mountain Ranges of China
🠶 A “mountain range” refers to a series of connected
mountains. Mountain ranges form the topographic
framework of China.
🠶 Although China’s mountain ranges seem to be intertwined
with each other, certain patterns can be identified. It can
be roughly divided into four groups of mountain
ranges in Figure 3:
1) East-West Mountain Ranges
2) Northeast-Southwest Mountain Ranges
3) North-South Mountain Ranges
4) Northwest-Southeast Mountain Ranges
Figure 3 The 4 major groups of mountain ranges in China
(Source: P.70 of the book “Learning the Geography of China through Reading (Part 1):
The physical environment” published by the Education Bureau (Hong Kong) in 2013.)
 Mountain Ranges Distribution & Examples
in
China
1) East-West Mountain • Including the northern range of
Ranges Tianshan – Yinshan, the middle
range of Kunlun Mountain –
Qinling, and the southern range
of Nanling
2) Northeast-Southwest • Mainly located at East China and
Mountain Ranges can be divided into 3 mountain
ranges: The western mountain
range comprises Daxinganling,
Taihang Shan, Wushan and
Xuefeng Shan; the middle range
comprises Changbai Shan and
Wuyi Shan; and the east range is
the mountain ranges in Taiwan.
 Mountain Ranges Distribution & Examples
in
China
3) North-South Mountain • There are two mountain ranges in
Ranges this group: 1) Helan Shan and
Liupan Shan in central China; and
2) Hengduan Shan in southwest
China.
4) Northwest-Southeast • Also known as the Tibetan
Mountain Ranges Plateau, including the Altai Shan,
Qilian Shan and the Himalayas
 Plateaus of China
🠶There are four major plateaus in China:
Tibetan Plateau, Inner Mongolian Plateau, Loess
Plateau and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (Figure 4).
🠶Except that the Tibetan Plateau is located on the 1st
tier of the relief of China, the other three plateaus
are located on the 2nd tier.
🠶1) Tibetan Plateau: It is located in southwestern
China and mainly includes Xizang, Qinghai and
western Sichuan. It is the largest and highest
plateau in China, with an average elevation over
4,000m.
 Inner

Figure 4 The 4 major plateaus in China

(Source: P.72 of the book “Learning the Geography of China through Reading (Part 1):
The physical environment” published by the Education Bureau (Hong Kong) in 2013.)
🠶2) Inner Mongolian Plateau: It is located in
northern China and mainly includes most parts
of Nei Mongol and parts of Gansu, Ningxia and
Hebei.
🠶3) Loess Plateau: The Loess Plateau is the
thickest and largest loess in the world. Its
location is just south of the Inner Mongolia
Plateau, including Shanxi, and parts of Shaanxi,
Gansu, and Ningxia.
🠶4) Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau: It is located in
southwestern China and occupies much of
Yunnan and Guizhou.
 Basins of China
🠶 There are 4 major basins in China. They are
Tarim Basin, Zungar Basin, Qaidam Basin, and
Sichuan Basin (Figure 5), and all of them are
located on the 2nd tier of the relief of China
🠶 1) Tarim Basin: The Tarim Basin is located in
southern Xinjiang and is the largest basin in
China, with an elevation of about 800- 1,300m.
The terrain of the Tarim Basin is high in the
west and low in the east. Its center is the largest
desert in China - the Taklamakan Desert, and its
edge is an oasis belt.
 Figure 5 The 4 major basins in China
(Source: P.74 of the book “Learning the Geography of China through Reading (Part 1):
The physical environment” published by the Education Bureau (Hong Kong) in 2013.)
🠶2) Zungar Basin is located in northern
Xinjiang at an altitude of about 500-
1,000m. It is the second largest basin in
China. Its terrain is also high in the west and
low in the east. Its central part is the second
largest desert in China - Gurbantunggut
Desert.
🠶3) Qaidam Basin is located in the
northwest of Qinghai Province. It is the
highest basin in China, with an elevation of
about 2,500-3,000m. There are many salt
lakes and swamps in its southeast.
🠶4) Sichuan Basin is located in the east
of Sichuan Province at an altitude of
about 250-700m. Its terrain is high in the
northwest and low in the southeast, with
plains, hills, low mountains and rivers.
Because of the warm climate and fertile
land, the Basin is rich in natural
resources and has the reputation of "the
kingdom of heaven“.
 Plains of China
🠶There are three major plains in China, from
north to south, followed by the Northeast Plain,
North China Plain, and the middle and lower
Chang Jiang (Yangtze) Plain, all distributed on
the 3rd tier with the lowest topography in eastern
China (Figure 6).
🠶1) Northeast Plain: It is located in northeastern
China, surrounded by Daxinganling,
Xiaoxinganling and Changbai Shan. It includes
parts of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Nei
Mongol, and is the largest plain in China.
 Its area is about 350,000 km², and its altitude
is mostly below 200m. Except for the
slightly higher terrain in the middle, the
terrain of most places is gentle.
Widespread fertile black soils and fresh
water marshes are prominent features of the
Plain.
🠶2) North China Plain: It is located at the
northern part of East China and is demarcated
by Yan Shan, Taihang Shan and Huaihe. It
occupies parts of Hebei, Henan, Shandong,
Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu and Anhui.
 Chang Jiang

Figure 6 The 3 major plains in China

(Source: P.77 of the book “Learning the Geography of China through Reading (Part 1):
The physical environment” published by the Education Bureau (Hong Kong) in 2013.)
 The North China Plain is the second largest
plain in China. It is formed by alluvial deposits
from the Huang He, Huaihe and Haihe, and
has an area of 310,000km². The land there
is flat and is less than 50m above
sea level in most cases.
🠶3) The middle and lower Chang Jiang
(Yangtze) Plain: It includes many plains from
the east of Wushan to the mouth of Chang
Jiang, such as Dongting Lake Plain, Jiang Han
Plain, Boyang Lake Plain, Jiangsu-Anhui River
Plain and Chang Jiang Delta. With a total area
of about 200,000 km², it is the third largest
plain in China.
 Hills of China
🠶China's hilly land is mainly distributed in
the eastern coastal areas. The three major
hilly areas (Figure 7)
include：
1) Southeast Hills：It is the largest
hilly area in China, including a large
area of land east of Xuefeng Shan
and a large area of land south of
Chang Jiang
2) Liaodong Hills
3) Shandong Hills
 Figure 7 The 3 major clusters of hills in China
(Source: P.79 of the book “Learning the Geography of China through Reading (Part 1):
The physical environment” published by the Education Bureau (Hong Kong) in 2013.)